Fight to the third generation

With the big killer of social networking, Yanwen Group is basically invincible, and there is no product on the market that can replace the "circle of friends" and "personal space".

Su Yehao is trying to turn the crisis into an opportunity, and seize the time to expand the business scale of the Yanwen Group. Usually, it is easy to cause vigilance, but recently it has become a reasonable self-help.

Microsoft is a platform serving third-party companies. Once it tries to reach out to other fields and touch the interests of other Internet companies, it will easily arouse resistance from the entire industry.

The same is true.

Since the Yanwen Group also focuses on the third-party service business and provides services such as advertising drainage for third-party companies, if it starts to expand for no reason and extends its hand to other Internet industries, it will inevitably lose a large number of advertising customers, and even Being dragged down by means of malicious lawsuits and supporting other peers.

Silicon Valley cannot accommodate an Internet giant that spans many industries.

This is also the fundamental reason why Su Yehao turned a blind eye to the many opportunities in the past two years and only dared to raise money through KOKO venture capital.

The three industries of large-scale online online games, payment tools, and online video rentals belong to the niche emerging fields that have just emerged in recent years, or few people pay attention to them. He dared to invest through Yanwen Group after repeated consideration.

After all, entering the market to snatch other people's business is completely different from incubating and opening up new markets by yourself.

Blizzard Game Studio's "Warcraft", "StarCraft", and "Dark Destroyer", as well as Valve Game Studio's current flagship products "Half-Life" and "Counter-Strike", are actually stand-alone games...

Faced with Su Yehao's offer of 8000 million US dollars, plus the assumption of the company's liabilities.

Kevin Hastings, the founder of Netflix, thought about the next morning, so he readily agreed, and he was as happy as meeting a lifesaver.

There is no way, I am really forced to help.

As early as two or three months ago, Kevin Hastings went to his competitor, hoping that the other party could acquire Netflix's business, but unfortunately the other party did not agree, the company could not get new financing, and only More than 70 U.S. dollars is not enough to pay for the courier costs with the Federal Postal Service, and it is heavily in debt.

Not only has the food run out, but there is also the possibility of facing group lawsuits from customers. I really did not expect Su Yehao to come down from the sky and offer such a surprising purchase price. Partners, don't even bother to haggle any more.

The specific acquisition was handed over to John Zhou. When he was having dinner with Su Yehao, he told:

"I asked the CEO of Netflix to calculate that their debt is about 800 million U.S. dollars. Can such a company that burns money and expands really bring us benefits? Customers only need to spend 5000 U.S. dollars a month to choose six movies. After watching the movie, send it back to the company, and you can continue to choose six more. Not to mention the cost of the CD, the storage cost, labor cost, and back-and-forth express delivery costs are all borne by Netflix. Last year, it burned more than [-] million U.S. dollars, which is obvious. Just trying to make money."

By burning money crazily, increasing the scale of customers, turnover, and growth rate, before the stock market collapsed in March last year, this set was very easy to collect money.

No one cares about whether the company is losing money. If you make a set of growth and profit forecast statements of how much money will be made in the future, you will be able to attract countless investors waving checks.

In just one year, this approach no longer works.

Every time Netflix adds a customer, it will cause more losses, scaring away many potential investors. With the scale of Yanmoji Group's drainage, it is no wonder that John Zhou began to worry.

Su Yehao didn't take it seriously, and said with a smile:

"It's like going to the gym to apply for a card. Some people do go every day, but the vast majority of people just think they need it. It's still unknown whether they can use it once a month on average. Netflix's drainage costs are very high, accounting for last year. Most of the factors of loss, but the business itself is not bad, just suitable for the situation of Yanmoji Group, and can be realized through Netflix at low cost."

Drainage is only the second, and the more critical reason is that he didn't tell John Zhou.

In the case of Netflix, as long as it accumulates enough users, it can easily leapfrog into the online movie viewing industry when the Internet speed becomes faster in the future.

Furthermore, through the charging model, it quickly grew into a large-scale Internet company. This alone made Su Yehao feel the need to take it down and try...

Chapter 785 Mostly Wants to Sell Movies

The speed of technological development has not kept up.

Shareholders of Netflix can only see its potential in the rental market now, and it is normal to sell if the price is right.

People often like to deduce from successful companies how they achieved success, which is easy to fall into the misunderstanding of survivor bias.

At least in 2001, when [-]% of Silicon Valley start-ups closed down, someone was willing to pay a high price to take over, which was already a kind of rare luck for Netflix shareholders. The good fortune that the money owner took a fancy to, closed the door first without even splashing a splash, or ran away to avoid debts.

Silicon Valley has a hard time keeping secrets.

Just after signing the contract with the people from Netflix that day, countless hopeful entrepreneurs filled Silicon Valley to inquire about Su Yehao's whereabouts.

When you go out to drink coffee, you will be blocked, and when you go to the Yanwen Group to discuss business, you will be blocked. Even when you take Jiang Yu to dinner, you will meet him with a file bag and yell that your project will be successful. Young entrepreneurs.

Over the past year, too many things have changed in Silicon Valley.

At the beginning, most people thought that they would be the chosen one, but life is too ruthless, and it taught them what reality is every minute.

So does Elon Musk.

He actually thinks that Paypal has a chance to succeed, but it’s just a chance. The company’s right to speak is not in Elon’s hands. With financing and mergers and reorganizations, the decision-making power has been taken away by venture capital institutions.

Knowing that many people are selling projects to Su Yehao, the shareholders of Paypal were worried that Su Yehao would see a better choice, so they closed the door of the meeting room and seized the time to discuss, and decided to choose between the sale plan and the financing plan as soon as possible.

At Paypal's current rate of burning $1000 million in financing each month, we have to think about what to do next.

In fact, among the shareholders, there are two venture capital institutions that are quite powerful, but they are still a company in essence. For the sake of risk control, it is impossible to invest too much money in a project unless they see the hope of winning with a high probability.

However, Paypal's current performance can barely be called good. It is still unknown whether it can beat other peers. After the B round of financing, it can only last for another three or four months, and the revenue and user growth data are not optimistic.

The competition between start-up companies is more intense than that of large companies. Whoever gets more development funds can lead the competition. The loser will only end up with no attention and no capital inflow.

This is also normal.

It's like betting on a racecourse. Since you have seen a racehorse far ahead, even if the odds are slightly lower, the probability of winning the race is high. Why put your chips on other high-risk events.

With Su Yehao focusing on the field of online payment tools, the situation is quite different from before.

Although he can't compete with Microsoft for the time being, it is more than enough to influence some emerging industries. As long as there is news that Su Yehao is optimistic about this industry, even if the market is depressed like it is now, most of them will attract others to follow suit and place bets.

For example, as long as any listed company is targeted by Buffett, it will generally usher in a wave of rise in the short term.

The super rich who are at the top of the Forbes rich list have their own aura, especially Su Yehao, who has really made a big name for himself through investment. Many people still remember how he shorted the Nasdaq index last year. Earning two to three billion US dollars in a month is almost like a miracle.

As the CEO, Musk is in a daze. He only holds 16% of the company's shares, and people from venture capital institutions don't care about his ideas.

The general environment is not good, and people will subconsciously think about the bad.

After more than an hour of intense discussion, the shareholders who chose to cash out and leave finally gained the upper hand, with more than 72% of the right to speak. They immediately voted with a show of hands and passed the sale plan.

It is determined to sell Paypal first, but they think they have to try again to see if they can be sold at a price of 5000 million US dollars.

Elon Musk has dealt with many venture capitalists, and he didn't speak until the vote was completed:

"Well, you can do whatever you want. I remember Su said yesterday that if anyone is willing to keep the shares, he can continue to hold the shares. Who is willing to stay? I will stay in the company and only sell the shares I hold. half."

After speaking, he raised his hand first.

The other two shareholders also raised their hands, accounting for only 21% of the total shares, and the remaining two small shareholders abstained.

Among them was a middle-aged white man who told me:

"I think that with the channel of Yanmoji Group, our Paypal can develop very quickly, but even if the shares are sold, the company account still does not have sufficient funds, which means that financing is likely to further dilute our shares?"

Another shareholder who chose to sell shares was very satisfied with the result of reaping more than double the profit in half a year, and said with a smile at the moment:

"Everyone, there is no shortage of projects in Silicon Valley, only a lack of funds. We can start from scratch and pick some new projects. In the past, we evaluated that the best result for Paypal would be to be acquired by an online shopping company. Unfortunately, Amazon has its own payment system. , eBay also has a similar transaction system, and since the start of charging, our user growth rate has slowed down significantly.”

"It may have great potential, but it can only be realized in the hands of online shopping companies. Yanwen Group has no strength to compete with bank card alliances, and once the shares are sold, lawsuits such as anti-money laundering and transaction fraud will follow. It's okay with us..."

It is precisely because of the popularity of the online shopping industry that the payment tool industry has become popular.

After the bubble burst, the online shopping giants themselves were half-dead, not to mention Internet companies like payment tools. Due to various factors, the development prospects of Paypal have been eclipsed a lot.

After all, payment tools are just tools. Before VISA, MasterCard and other institutions suppressed them, and later there were regulatory pressures to prevent funds from flowing into gray areas. The future development is full of uncertainties.

Originally thinking that so much money had been thrown out, I gritted my teeth and held on until the industry recovered.

Unexpectedly, Su Yehao just popped up and offered a pretty good price. People from several venture capital institutions summed up with each other and decided to sell it.

Elon Musk didn't think too much about it, he just thought that Su Yehao planned to develop into the online shopping industry.

Besides, he hadn't thought about what to do next, so he decided to stay and take a gamble, only cashing out half of his holdings, which was equivalent to double insurance.

The worst result is nothing more than losing half of his wealth, but if Su Yehao's online shopping business is successful, he will definitely be able to earn more.

He guessed that the reason why Su Yehao would develop into the online shopping industry was that Yanwen Group also acquired Netflix this time.

Considering the situation of Netflix, Elon Musk felt in his heart that Su Yehao probably wanted to sell movies, because Amazon started out selling books in the early years, and it is reasonable to switch to selling movies, which has a huge market demand.

After Paypal's discussion came to a conclusion, a venture capitalist came forward and asked Su Yehao to negotiate again.

Willing to discuss themselves again already shows that they have wavered.

Su Yehao refused to let go of the price of [-] million U.S. dollars. The other party pretended to discuss for a while, but they still agreed to make a deal at this price...

Chapter 786 paypal payment platform

The company was sold, and the Paypal employees were happy.

Because Su Yehao promised not to lay off employees within three years, unless the employees themselves violated the company's rules and regulations, and the benefits and benefits will be in line with Yanwen Group.

Last year, many companies reduced the distribution of year-end bonuses, and some even directly canceled the year-end bonuses, but Yanwen Group paid them out as usual. You can know this by just asking around. It has a pretty good reputation in the human resources market.

Then there is.

Paypal embraces the thigh, and the possibility of surviving smoothly is greatly increased.

These old employees are also more likely to receive equity awards on the eve of the company's listing.

In the listing requirements of the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, there is already a rigid rule to have hundreds of shareholders, and they often leave no one else's field, and eventually cheapen their own company's old employees, so there are many examples of getting rich overnight yes.

The original Paypal employees had given up hope, and only hoped that the company would not collapse, and that they could make a living.

Who would have thought that they were so lucky that they would suddenly be swallowed up by Yanwen, a giant in instant chat and social networking, which meant that they had done nothing, and the company worked hard to change them collectively to a good job with better pay and more security.

Especially the department in charge of promotion and operation, just like the Chinese New Year. In the future, the Kaomoji Group will be responsible for attracting traffic, and it will be much easier to complete the task. At the same time, with the help of brothers like Google, the burden on their shoulders will suddenly be lightened.

Those programmers will only immerse themselves in development. The start-up company can’t get financing, and the growth data is not performing well. In the end, it will only be blamed on the promotion and operation department. Now they have an extra powerful parent company to help, of course they are very happy... …

Handing over the drafting of the contract to the legal counsel, Su Yehao had a brief chat with the Paypal executives, and then came to Elon Musk's office.

People at different stages have completely different ideas.

Just like Su Yehao himself, when he bought some 20 yuan a piece of sandalwood, he thought it was a luxury. Now he heard that Gulfstream Aerospace has launched a new private business jet, code-named G550, and he ordered three in advance last week.

Two new planes are reserved for his own use, and the other new plane and the old Gulfstream V model are reserved for the office use of his senior executives. Su Yehao usually does not care about world affairs, and counts on them to help him become bigger and stronger , the appropriate time is to provide more benefits to win over people's hearts.

In many Fortune [-] companies, top executives also have the right to use private business jets, which can not only improve efficiency, but also increase safety. Compared with the benefits these executives can bring, the cost performance is extremely high.

Elon Musk is just an ordinary person. Thinking that more than 2000 million US dollars will be credited soon, he has already begun to think about where to buy a big house, so he asked Su Yehao:

"Will our company relocate in the future? I mean move to the headquarters of the Yanmoji Group in Silicon Valley, or other places. The housing prices in Silicon Valley are falling wildly. At that time, I can change my house and be closer to the company."

Su Yehao nodded and told him, "I should move to Menlo Patto. In my opinion, housing prices are not at the lowest point yet. I will consider buying some land and ready-made office buildings. Elon, what do you think about Paypal's price?" Do you have any plans for development, I would like to hear your suggestions."

heard.

Elon Musk was slightly stunned, and asked in surprise: "Don't you already have an idea? Cooperate with Netflix you just acquired, and then sell trading movie discs?"

"...Who said that? I don't have this idea at all. Users can rent at a low price, so why would they want to buy at a high price? Its market is too small, and companies like Amazon and eBay have developed very well. I think competition means Need to start from scratch, too much trouble."

If Su Yehao wanted to start an online shopping business in the United States, he could start planning two or three years ago.

But Amazon has no problem with its development ideas. His plan has always been to invest in shares and make money through financial management. The cost is likely to be lower than his own investment.

The market has been basically divided up. Entering the market now means facing fierce competition, and the cost of acquiring customers must remain high. It is still very difficult to find a new path. From all perspectives, there is really no need to enter the market in person.

Amazon's stock price has fallen from more than 300 billion US dollars to more than 60 billion US dollars, and it is still falling with huge losses. That's why it is said that starting a company is not as good as investing, and at the same time it can avoid countless troubles.

heard.

Elon Musk immediately understood that he was going astray, and asked wonderingly: "Then why did you acquire our company? I and other shareholders have always believed that the best destination for this company is to be acquired by an online shopping company. Only then can it be used to its greatest advantage.”

Su Yehao replied: "As you said, the US credit card industry is too mature, and it is very troublesome for Paypal to develop independently. My plan is to build it into a platform and cooperate with many online shopping platforms, even if I give up some of the profits. , at least occupy the market first.”

"But it's not easy. Amazon is building its own payment system, and eBay is trying to do it."

"But they don't interoperate, do they? That creates problems for consumers, who want a product that's convenient enough to work across multiple platforms, and by the time I'm a major shareholder in Amazon, it won't be a problem to get Paypal on board." .”

"...what? You still plan to invest in Amazon?"

Elon Musk was a little surprised.

Amazon is not a small company like Paypal. If it wants to become one of the major shareholders, it needs to invest at least one billion US dollars.

For a moment, he even thought of buying some Amazon shares in advance, waiting for good news in the future.

Su Yehao nodded indifferently, and only said:

"Yes, Amazon is very short of funds, isn't it? If I take Paypal's participation in the payment system as one of the investment requirements, their board of directors has no reason to reject me. At that time, whether it is the principal deposited in the fund pool or the transaction between the buyer and the seller The handling fee can bring us benefits, and other small and medium-sized online shopping companies will not refuse our cooperation, they lack the strength to build a payment platform.”

to be honest.

Credit Bao, the payment tool created by Paypal and Su Yehao in the Mainland, is basically similar with minor differences.

However, credit cards are more developed in the United States, and people can pay directly with credit cards when they consume. The promotion process is much more troublesome than Xinxinbao.

Fortunately, every time I pay with a credit card, I have to charge a certain handling fee, but using the funds left in the Paypal account, the handling fee is a little bit more cost-effective. This is the root cause of Paypal shareholders' fear of the company being targeted.

When it comes to conflicts of interest, there will definitely be conflicts.